24 TV Movie For Fall 2008

After we got robbed of season 7 of 24 because of the writers strike, word has come down that Fox is going to produce a two-hour TV movie that helps bridge the two year gap between seasons 6 and 7 (not to be confused with the rumored theatrical film). All right!

I’m a late bloomer to 24, having started during season 6. I would watch each episode while also watching eps from season 5. Yeah, things got a bit confusing (which terrorist is this? Nukes or chemical weapons?), but I couldn’t stop watching! It was fantastic. By the way, season 5 was some of the best TV I’ve ever seen, and I’m not much of a TV guy.

Though season 6 ended, in my mind, at episode 18 or so, it was still a solid, if uneven, one. I’m gonna start going through the other seasons to catch up.

Anyway, back to the TV movie and season 7.

Eight episodes of 24 season 7 was already shot last year when the writers strike happened. Instead of giving us a 1/3-of-the-way-through cliffhanger, Fox decided to bump season 7 to January 2009, pretty much two years after the end of six.

To help keep things fresh in our minds and to bridge that two year gap between seasons 6 and 7, Fox is planning a two-hour TV movie, starring Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). Details of the plot haven’t been disclosed yet, but I’m hoping it’ll set up how Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), Jack’s former friend and colleague (thought dead in season 5), survived to become the newest villain.

We’ll post up more news as it comes available. In the meantime, what’s the deal with RoboCop veterans showing up on 24?! The Vice President in season 6 was played by Ray Wise (the devil in the excellent Reaper, Leon Nash in RoboCop), Peter Weller as the villain in 6 (RoboCop himself), Paul McCrane as Jack’s evil brother (Emil) and now in season 7, Kurtwood Smith (Boddicker). Crazy, huh?